McAuliffe says Virginia is the go-to state for criminals to buy weapons in bulk, wants change

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Governor Terry McAuliffe calls Virginia the go-to state for criminals to buy guns in bulk which is why he’s pushing to change the laws to make it tougher to buy them.

Under his proposed amendments to Senate Bill 1023, he would like to restore Virginia’s One-Handgun-a-Month law.

“One-Handgun-a-Month was enacted almost a quarter century ago to counter Virginia’s shameful reputation as the gun-running capital of the East Coast. Five years ago, the General Assembly took the ill-advised step of repealing this common-sense limitation. As a result, Virginia is once again becoming the go-to state for criminals to purchase weapons in bulk,” stated Governor McAuliffe.

“This is a great step to restore a commonsense measure that never should have been repealed in the first place. Virginia’s weak gun laws make it too easy for guns to get into the hands of criminals, making our families, communities, and especially our law enforcement officers less safe, not to mention the heartbreak and damage these guns cause in neighboring states. When you’ve got gun runners on tape bragging about how weak our gun laws are it should be a pretty clear signal that something needs to change.”

The amendment would make it a misdemeanor for someone to buy more than one handgun within a 30 day period.

On April 5 at the reconvened session the amendment will go to the Senate first for a vote.

The amendment “is a major step forward in making Virginia a safer place and ending its role in the proliferation of firearms up and down the East Coast,” said Governor McAuliffe.